Wednesday, May 17, 2017

And just like that, junior year of college comes to an end. In the past month, I’ve said, “where has the time gone, I don’t want to be old,” at least once a day. Looking back to the start of junior year, I barely recognize who I was. My priorities were different, the people in my life were different, and I’m not sure where my head was at.

To sum it up, junior year has been a year of growth. A long year of growing out of unhealthy friendships and investing all my time in the positive aspects of my life. As corny and cliché as this sounds, junior year has taught me that the root of happiness comes from self-love.

Like my mom said in a long, much needed motivational text message to me, “Life is about balance. The good and the bad. The thing everyone should realize is the key to happiness is being by yourself, for yourself. It’s so much better to be sad, yet complete, rather than being happy and feel like something missing. Don’t wish away your days waiting for better ones ahead.”

And with that, I focused on making every day count, because soon enough, I’ll be a senior and the greatest experience of my life will be coming to a close. My roommate often says, “Isn’t it unfair this is the best chapter of our life but also the shortest.”

That mentality right there is what goes through every junior and senior college student as they approach the month of May. We begin to reflect on our past three years, but also look forward to what will come next. We are all itching for summer, but none of us are ready to leave our home. It’s crazy to think that only three years ago, I came into this unknown town and have created some of the best memories, met some of the best people, found my dream hobby, and learned what I am looking for in a future career.

College has changed me in the best ways possible, and I’m just not ready to let that go. I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready to say goodbye to this place, but the best I can do now is be thankful for every day, even the bad ones, because at least I’m in Bloomsburg.